Birds

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Birds (Espresso)

£

20.00

Birds (Large)

£

25.00

These mugs will enhance the pleasure you take in your coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Their special feature is that they are decorated both inside (with stripes), outside (with a design) and on their bottoms, too. To prevent the glazed bottoms sticking to the kiln during the firing, each mug has three little unglazed ‘feet’. This means that not only do you not need to use mats at the table, but when your mug is tipped and you are in the act of drinking, whoever is sitting opposite you sees a very pretty bottom! Each mug is hand-made at the wheel. When the mug is leather hard, it undergoes a turning process on the wheel, to fettle away any excess clay on the outside and make the shape perfect. Meanwhile, a handle is pulled from a carrot-shaped hunk of clay. When it has dried to the right consistency, the top of the handle is attached to the mug, bent into shape and then attached to the lower part using a process of scratching, adding water, then smoothing. The mug is then decorated in its still unfired state, using blue slip (a mixture of liquid clay and natural oxides made to the potter’s own recipe) and left to dry. When completely bone dry (a state which is much harder to achieve in winter’s damp and cold conditions) the mug is placed into the kiln for a first firing, which goes up to 1000 degrees. Allowing for cooling time, this takes about 24 hours. The bisque fired mugs are then removed from the kiln, hand dipped into a glaze and then fired again, this time up to a temperature of 1240 degrees. Two days later, when the kiln has cooled down enough, they are removed and, if all has gone well, they are ready to use. The firing process, though controlled as much as possible, always holds an element of randomness. This makes opening the kiln door a moment which is always exciting, sometimes thrilling and often disappointing. Sadly, the graveyard for flawed or failed pots usually gets an addition or two after every firing. Often, however, there is also something outstanding which helps to soften the loss! The LARGE mugs are all approximately 7cm high with a circumference at the opening of about 9cm. The ESPRESSO mugs are all approximately 5cm tall, with a circumference at the opening of about 6.5cm. Because these mugs are hand-made, there are very slight variations in their vital statistics. When seen in a group, this adds to their charm and character. However, if you prefer factory-made precision, then these mugs are not for you.